


Permanent Resident of my Heart

by reylotrashbot



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward situations, Background Jannah/Kaydel, Banter, Ben is a senior, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dorm Room Hookups, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, First Time, Idiots in Love, Late Night Conversations, Lonely souls, Loss of Virginity, Mostly Realistic College AU, Partying, Power Dynamics, RA!Ben, Resident Advisor AU, Resident!Rey, Rey and Rose are roommates, Rey is a freshie, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Snoke Being a Dick, Soft AU, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, awkward virgins, background stormpilot, forbidden relationship, library dates, so much partying, virgin!ben, virgin!rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:06:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25029733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reylotrashbot/pseuds/reylotrashbot
Summary: Senior RA Ben Solo and one his new Freshmen residents, Rey Johnson, do not get off on the right foot. He is a stickler for the rules and she wants to bend them for the true college experience.Ben just wants to finish his senior year and keep his residents out of trouble, but soon finds that a certain off-limits girl is taking up more space in his heart than he ever intended.Rey is ready to start her new life at Coruscant University and take advantage of everything she had missed out on. She never thought that falling in love with someone she can't have would be part of the deal.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Permanent Resident of my Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello! This is my very first fic that I have actually fully fleshed out and written a complete outline for. Please forgive me for any typos or errors. 
> 
> I really wanted to write a realistic College AU, as I just graduated in May and wanted to see my two favorite characters in a world I know so well. I was also an RA in college and thought the RA/resident dynamic would be fun to play with. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy and if you would like to leave a comment, it would mean the world to me!

Rey’s arms start to burn under the weight of the cardboard box and numerous bags she is beginning to carry uphill in the late August heat.

“Rey, do you want me to grab something from you?” says the warm and masculine voice from the bed of her truck, currently piled high with every single one of her earthly possessions. Over her shoulder, Rey squints past the bright rays of sunshine to see the outline of her best friend.

“No Finn, I got it!” She continues to walk towards the large brick building, “Watch the truck and I will go get the keys to my room.” 

Her beat-up old truck had seen better days and she didn’t want to risk trying to get it up the steep hill to park it closer to her new dormitory. She knew that there was only a fifty-fifty chance of her truck making it up the hill and not immediately rolling back down, possibly crushing her or her new classmates. Her classes at Coruscant University began in less than a week. Today was supposed to be the day her life truly begins, official college move-in day.

Rey glances at the incredibly detailed landscaping as she passes and thinks if it’s possible that this school was even more beautiful than she remembered. The green leaves and brightly colored flowers were pleasant and welcoming despite the growing ache in her biceps. As she slowly approaches the glass double doors at the front of her assigned building - Eisley Hall - she sees every parking space in sight filled with other cars. Other freshmen and their families pile out of cars with boxes, mini-fridges, and all of their belongings. All of them trying to be as efficient as possible and avoid the heat.

Rey can’t help but feel a small pang in her stomach as she watches overeager parents gush over their nervous children, all about to start a wonderful new adventure. 

The only person that was ever there for her like that was Finn. He was her best and -  _ only -  _ friend. Years together in foster care as children forged a bond between them that ran deep. He was a year older but they were inseparable all through school.

Even when Rey was in seventh grade and Finn was adopted by his middle-school football coach, her best friend never abandoned her. 

Rey continued to bounce around foster homes but had been able to stay in one place for the last few years, even if he was a disgusting excuse for a guardian. She didn’t even say goodbye to Plutt, just packed up her truck with everything she owned and left. Not that he would be sober enough to notice for a little while anyway.

The burning in Rey’s arms snaps her out of the anxiety bubbling in her stomach and she speeds up her pace uphill towards the double doors. 

Eisley Hall was Rey’s top choice to live in for her first year. Rey thought a silent “thank you” to whatever greater power had blessed her with the opportunity to go to Coruscant University, with a full-ride no less. Rey had worked hard for her scholarship but knew how lucky she was to be there. 

A rigorous course load, high GPA, and maintaining the university’s honor code. They were all she needed to keep her dreams of being an engineer alive, and Rey was ready. 

Her dorm happened to be in one of the oldest on campus, it had originally been built over a century ago. 

While she may have chosen the dorm for it’s close proximity to what was sure to be her new favorite place, the dining hall, she found herself charmed by the old brick exterior of her new home. As soon as she reaches the top of the dorm’s concrete stairs one of the front doors swings open to reveal a guy with a head of dark brown curls and facial hair with an arm outstretched holding open the door for her. 

Rey hurries inside to the dorm’s main hall after mumbling a quick thanks. She could feel her arms begin to tremble under the weight of her box and her skin turning an angry red from the plastic straps of her multiple bags. “Well at least I didn’t trip or fall on my ass…” she mutters, as an embarrassing image of her sprawled out on the hardwood floors of her dorm’s lobby with her various belongings strewn about flew across Rey’s mind. 

After passing through the main entrance Rey is directed by a bright yellow sign with “CHECK-IN HERE” written in giant black block lettering on the wall above a long table with two folding chairs. 

There is a short line in front of the desk with an assortment of people in front of her waiting for the keys to their dorm rooms.  _ Her new neighbors _ , Rey thinks, wondering if she should try to introduce herself despite her stressed and sweaty state. She puts on a smile to seem more approachable while trying to ignore her state of discomfort. None of the people in line pay her much mind, either anxiously staring ahead of them or engrossed by their phones. 

After waiting a few minutes and attempting to shift around the load of stuff in her arms, Rey directs her gaze towards the check-in table stacked with folders, boxes, and assorted flyers. One of the chairs is empty while the other is occupied by a lanky redhead in a perfectly fitted navy polo embroidered with the words “Resident Advisor.” He glances up at her from the sleek laptop he was typing on with a slightly impatient expression. 

“Name, please?”

“Oh,” Rey is suddenly first in line and quickly shuffles towards the table “Rey. Rey Johnson.” She looks more closely at him and notices his plastic name tag which includes Coruscant University’s logo and underneath proclaims his name as “Armitage Hux.”  _ How unfortunate,  _ Rey thinks. 

She lets her stuff down on the ground, her arms thankful for the break.

The redhead nods at her and consults the papers spread across the wooden table presumably looking for her name amongst those of her new neighbors. His hands rifle through a box filled with organized stacks of tiny manila envelopes inside and finally pulls the right one out.

He checks off a box and his pale face looks up at her, “You are going to be in room 225 and you are assigned to bed B.” 

Rey simply nods. Armitage grabs a stapled packet of papers from the table and hands it to her along with the miniature envelope. “Your keys are in the envelope, the bigger one is the key to your room and the smaller one is the key to your mailbox in the lobby if you want to use it,” he shrugs.

He continues his speech, looking rather bored, as he had probably recited the exact same words at least 100 times today already. “The packet has all the information you will need to settle into your dorm and has reminders about the rules for living in this dorm. If you have any questions please reach out to your RA whose information is inside the packet. Your RA will be emailing you some time today with information about their  _ mandatory _ first hall meeting.” 

She had already read through the strict rules of living in Eisley Hall before arriving on campus.  _ No underage drinking, no drugs, no unaccompanied guests, no sharing keys, no flammable objects…  _ Rey is not particularly set on following that last bullet point though. She definitely has a Forest Pine candle hiding in one of the boxes currently sitting in the bed of her truck waiting to be brought up to her room.

Her delicious-smelling candle was essential to her morning yoga and daily routine. She figures that sneaking it into the dorm won’t hurt anyone, it’s not like she’s gonna burn down the entire dorm with it. 

“Do I need to do anything else before I can bring up the rest of my stuff?” Rey asks with a slight edge while still trying to be polite. She starts to feel a drop of sweat trace a path from the nape of her neck down her spine and wants desperately to get settled into her new life. Rey brushes away a damp piece of hair out that had fallen onto her face.

“Just sign on this line to confirm that you received your keys from us and you are good to start moving everything into your room.”

Rey plucks the pen from his long fingers and quickly signs the paper with her hurried, ugly scrawl.

As she returns the signed paperwork he speaks to her with less of a stiff demeanor. “I’m Armitage by the way. But everyone calls me Armie, I’m an RA here on the first floor.” She nods politely in acknowledgement and wonders if she will have the chance to actually meet her RA today. Maybe they would be a fun RA who let kids party and told them all the tips and tricks to surviving the first year of college.

She places the packet of welcome papers into one of her bags and holds the new keys in her other hand.  _ A new room and a new start. _

Rey grabs the rest of her bags and her large box before she heads down the hall where yellow signs point her in the direction of the main stairwell. She climbs the stairs with anticipation,  _ what will her room look like? Is her roommate going to be nice? Is she ready for all of this? _

She walks down the hall of the second floor and finds her room number,  _ 225\.  _ She drops the box and turns the dull brass doorknob, ready to see the room she would be spending the next year of her life in. 

xxx

Ben Solo does not particularly enjoy move-in day. As the Senior RA on his staff, it is his job to oversee the entire operation and help out wherever he is needed. He holds doors for people, helps residents check-in, hands out keys, and solves any problems that inevitably come up for his staff on what is one of the most chaotic days of the school year. 

He never looks forward to the flood of activity or the painful small talk he has to make with anxious parents and their embarrassed children, who are just trying to move-in their stuff without issue. 

This is his third year as an RA and his first as the one in charge of overseeing the entire dorm as well as his team of other RAs. Ben had decided after a year of living with another person in a single room, he never wanted to share his personal space again.

His freshman year roommate was a slob with no concern for personal space and for the most part, a prick. Tritt Opan was an idiotic pig that joined a fraternity as soon as he possibly could and then wouldn’t talk about anything else. Ben had never felt luckier than when he got his acceptance email to start as an RA the following year.

While some RAs take the job simply for the perks, like getting a free room all to yourself, Ben actually likes his role for the most part. He likes making sure things are safe and orderly. He feels more in control while in this job than he ever has in his entire life. 

The social aspect is a little trickier, for some reason Ben never feels totally comfortable around his residents. He knows that he intimidates most of them, Ben tended to tower over people in size and stature. At over six feet tall and broad in almost every way, he often feels he needs to shrink to make people feel more comfortable. His residents are always bright-eyed freshmen and only at 21, Ben already looks like a full-grown man. 

Luckily, for most of the move-in day, Ben had been sitting at the check-in table with Armie, who Ben often thinks of as his second-in-command (though he will never tell anyone that). Ben likes that Armie is responsible, despite the snobbish ginger’s constant scowling. 

After taking a much-needed break from the constant stream of stressed-out first-year students and their parents, Ben straightens the collar of his navy blue RA polo and adjusts his nametag in the hall bathroom mirror. He runs a hand through his dark hair to tame it back into place, a nervous habit, and plods back to his chair at the check-in desk next to Armie. 

“Took you long enough, I had to check-in a bunch of people and no one was around to help me sort through the keys. Poe is still on door duty and I think Phas and Zurii are helping residents. We are on check-in and keys until the end of the day.”

Ben nods, then appraises the organized table and Armie’s sour face. “Well, it seems like you managed to survive without me just fine. No need for a spike in your blood pressure.” 

Armie purses his lips and returns his gaze to the laptop in front of him. Ben’s mouth turns up at one side, delighted that he managed to get Armie to cease complaining so quickly. 

This is Ben’s first year as the SRA but second working on the same staff as Armie. At this point, he is used to Armie’s nagging. While the ginger asshole could irritate him to no end, it was the closest thing to friendship that he had. As coworkers, Ben always followed the rules and tried to be in control as much as possible but Armie was practically militant with his residents. 

Ben stares out into the main hallway as he waits for any residents that still need to check-in. A quick glance over the hall chart confirms that almost all of the residents of Eisley Hall are checked in and accounted for. Now all the residents and parents are in the process of moving in the mini-fridges, lamps, microwaves, and all the other first-year dorm necessities. 

One particular resident catches his eye. He notices right away that she is the only student moving in that doesn’t have a parent with her.  _ She’s also infuriatingly pretty _ , trying to shove the thought out of his mind as soon as he thinks it. Ben looks out into the crowd of people milling about the main hallway and his eyes can’t help but fall on her. 

She has her brown hair in three buns swept away from her face, currently red and sweaty from her numerous treks up the stairs with arms full of boxes. She isn’t completely alone though. Ben sees her with a guy around their age who seems to be helping her move in. A boyfriend perhaps?

_ Stop it.  _ Ben thinks, internally berating himself.  _ She is a resident in my hall, totally off-limits.  _

Even without that, there was no chance of something happening between his borderline antisocial self and this total stranger. 

Armie continues to clack away at his laptop without looking up, leaving Ben to his thoughts.

The girl strides alone through the lobby with a cardboard box in her arms and Ben tries to avoid looking at her face. He notices as she comes towards the table to get to the main hallway that her smudged sneakers have come untied. 

Just as Ben’s voice starts to rise out of his throat to warn her that she might want to fix her shoes, she starts to tumble towards the floor - box and all. Her knees hit the hardwood first and the box flies out of her hands with some of the contents spilling in front of her. Ben quickly stands and as he approaches to help her up, a glass cylinder rolls towards him and hits the edge of his shoe. 

She recovers quickly and immediately starts to gather her belongings from the floor and put them back in the box. Her face turns in Ben’s direction and her eyes track across the floor to his feet. 

Ben bends down and picks up the shiny green container. She shoots up from the floor as Ben clears his throat and says with too much snark even for him, “you know you can’t bring this candle in here, right?”

She screws up her face at his words.“I wasn’t planning on burning it. I just like the smell of it. Can I have it back now?” Despite her irritated tone, Ben still enjoys hearing her lilting accent and savors the words. Her face is tinged red from either the heat of humiliation or the temperature outside.

Ben rolls back his shoulders to prepare for her reaction to his next words, “Candles are not allowed in on-campus dorms under any circumstances. Either you throw it away or I do. It’s policy.” He extends his arm and offers the candle to her. She glares up at him intensely for a second before rolling her eyes with resignation and takes the candle from him. Ben watches as she stalks up to the trash a few feet away, she waits a moment before finally allowing the candle to fall from her hands into the bin.

She walks back towards Ben who is standing awkwardly in front of his table. The girl grabs her cardboard box. “Thanks for that. I didn’t know that an unlit candle made me a menace to society. Won’t happen again.” Her words are icy and bite at Ben in a way he doesn’t understand. He is just doing his job, he couldn’t let her bring in contraband despite how cute she looks when she is angry. 

The girl starts to brush past him to head down the hallway and he starts to speak without realizing what he is doing.

“Hey wait a second. What’s your name?” he calls after her.

She reels and faces him. Ben catches a glint of something in her wide hazel eyes.

“I’m Nobody, don’t worry about it” she snaps. Without another word, the girl stalks off before Ben can ask her name again or anything else for that matter.

After a long pause, Ben goes to sit back in his chair and Armie, without lifting his eyes from his laptop, sighs “I don’t know why she gave you attitude. Candles are literally right on the Do Not Bring List.” 

Ben outwardly shrugs but continues to think about what she said… _ Why wouldn’t she tell him her name? _

His train of thought is interrupted by the abrupt sound of Armie’s laughter. “What’s up?”

Armie looks at Ben and then points to a highlighted name on the hall chart pulled up on his laptop. “That girl’s name is Rey… and it looks like she’s one of your residents.” 

Ben’s eyes widen as he rereads the same line of the spreadsheet over and over.  _ Rey Johnson, Room 225 - RA Ben Solo _ . 

The girl with the three buns and eyes like new earth. The girl who probably now hates him for making her first day in a new place even harder just because he followed the rules. The girl who has been assigned for him to personally get to know and be responsible for. 

Armie snickers, “Well, good luck with that one.”

_ Great,  _ Ben thought sardonically,  _ his last year of college is already off to a spectacular start. _

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lot of exposition. There will definitely be more dialogue from now on and more characters will be introduced as Rey meets more people at school. 
> 
> Hopefully will be posting relatively frequently now that I’ve actually done the damn thing and posted the first chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
